Riding a wave of anti-money laundering momentum, will the U.S. president from Delaware deliver on his pledges to tackle tax havens and make the wealthy pay more?
Early rhetoric from the Biden administration has encouraged anti-corruption advocates that the new president’s tenure in the White House may mark a turning point in the fight against dirty money and tax haven abuse — two overlapping problems made worse by a veil of secrecy that shields vast sums of money from tax collectors and law enforcement authorities.
“We will crack down on tax havens and illicit financing that contribute to income inequality, fund terrorism, and generate pernicious foreign influence,” the administration’s Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, released last month, says, identifying the fight against global corruption as a top security priority. The strategy mirrors promises Joe Biden made during his candidacy.
The pledges come at a time when the U.S., like many other countries, is seeing political momentum around proposals to ensure that wealthy individuals and high-earning corporations pay their fair share of taxes to aid pandemic relief and economic recovery.
It’s time to “change the paradigm,” Biden said in his first press conference, to “reward work, not just wealth” — a line that reinforced his pledges to raise marginal tax rates for the rich and for corporations. This week, Biden unveiled a proposed tax hike on companies and foreign profits to pay for his infrastructure plan.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has documented across many investigations how millionaires, including corrupt politicians, drug dealers, human rights abusers and tax evaders use the offshore system to hide their wealth. Most recently, in 2020, the FinCEN Files investigation revealed how banks allow billions of dollars in suspect money to flow through their accounts.
So far, the Biden administration hasn’t provided specifics about how the promised fight against tax havens and dirty money might shake out. Taxation and money laundering experts say there are at least five reforms that the new president should put at the top of the list.
1. Crack down on tax havens at home and abroad…,
icij.org/investigations/
